The fraud in Satyam Computer Systems will have no bearing on the EMRI-108 service in Uttarakhand, Chief Minister B C Khanduri has said.
“There is no problem with EMRI-108 service in Uttarakhand and it will continue without any hindrance,” Khanduri said last night.
Khanduri’s comments assume significance as the service came under scanner, in the wake of the fraud in Satyam and subsequent arrest of its former chairman B Ramalinga Raju.
But official sources said the government will seek the auditing of the accounts of EMRI-108. A separate re-evaluation of the “dial 108” service would also be carried out shortly, they added.
The Uttarakhand government, which has described the service as highly successful, suddenly came under pressure after Raju resigned in the wake of the fraud.
Justifying the move, the sources said the auditing of the accounts of EMRI was being sought, since its supporting company Satyam has run into losses.
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The Uttarakhand government has so far invested Rs 20-30 crore in the service, which runs ambulances in the hill state.
The innovative “dial 108” scheme was launched last year, to provide relief to people in distress in Uttarakhand, where hundreds of people are killed every year due to road accidents.
Last year, over 543 people, comprising tourists, were killed in such mishaps. Beside this, scores of people are also killed in various other disasters like landslips and cloudbursts every year.
The scheme was launched in collaboration with the Emergency Management and Research Institute (EMRI), a service being founded, funded and nurtured by Raju, which will get Rs 16 crore as annual maintenance fees.
Under the scheme, EMRI, as a nodal agency, has been given ambulances, which are equipped with paramedical staffs, police personnel, fire brigade personnel, life-saving drugs, oxygen cylinders and first-aid materials.